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| Newsletter
No.81 |
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Feb.
2006
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New Year's Lecture:
Scotland and its National Poet Robert Burns
For the first lecture of the year, ESUJ welcomed
a true Scots gentleman, Mr. Gary McGregor. McGregor-san
showed up in his clan's tartan kilt on the anniversary
of Robert Burns' birth, January 25, surrounding
the Kasumi Kaikan in Scottish atmosphere this Burns
Night. He started his talk by joking that long ago
when he'd been a student and traveled to North America
he'd been praised for his excellent English!
Robert Burns was an 18th century poet, but 200 years
later his birthday is still celebrated each year
with a Burns Supper, featuring haggis (a type of
stuffed sheep's stomach , Scotland's representative
dish) and cock-a-leekie soup, followed by readings
of Burns’ poetry and the drinking of Scotch.
The eldest of seven children in a poor farming family,
Burns was given a wonderful education by his parents
despite their poverty. Of weak constitution, he
died at the young age of 37 but still managed to
leave much eloquent, moving poetry. He has become
so famous, his works are translated into 80 languages,
and there is a statue of him in New York's Central
Park. His poems overflow with humanity and drama,
addressing such universal themes as love and passion,
joy and laughter, youth and old age, life and death,
with several of the rhymes often being read aloud.
McGregor-san noted he even met the girl he was to
marry, after a ten-year hiatus, at a Burns Supper.
He continued his talk of Scotland ‘then and
now’ by explaining how the Picts had resisted
invasion, stopping the Romans in northern England
only to subsequently fight and lose a long struggle
against England, finally gaining their own parliament,
in 1999. When the Japanese staff at Lloyds TSB were
asked what they thought of when they heard the word
‘Scotland’, they replied, whiskey, dark
skies, and rain, to his disappointment. According
to Mr McGregor, Scotland's three great charms are
the scenery, friendly people and dramatic history.
Many Scots have made contributions to civilization,
including the telephone, television, tire, bicycle,
penicillin, Dolly the cloned sheep, mathematical
logarithms, marmalade, Harry Potter, and too many
others to name. At the conclusion of the talk, McGregor-san
returned to the Burns Supper, reading out Burns'
vigorous address to the haggis about to be eaten.
A full house of 50 people were present and completely
charmed by this talk, overflowing with the spirit
of Scotland. The hour-and-a-half passed so quickly
there was no time for questions. Mr David Thomas,
Honorary Treasurer of ESU London, Director of Lloyds
TSB Bank and a frequent visitor to Japan, was also
present.
English Club
English Club held its monthly meeting on Tuesday,
January 17 at the Tokyo International Forum. This
time, our speaker was the Canadian James Yellowlees,
Director-Japan of the Canadian Education Alliance.
Choosing the theme of “Globalization and the Future
of Japan”, he spoke in an easy-to-understand academic
way about present and future trends from various
perspectives, looking ahead 10-20 years. He also
touched on Japan-Canada relations, pointing out
that there are 1000 Japanese journalists in the
US, and 300 American journalists in Japan, but,
shockingly, only one fulltime Japanese journalist
in Canada and one Canadian journalist in Japan,
with the result that information about and interest
in the two countries does not flow back and forth,
and Canadian interest in Asia is mainly focused
on China.
The next meeting of English Club will be held on
February 21 (Tue.), from 18:30-20:30, at
the Nikkei Hanbai Kaihatsu Building, with Mr Tsunekazu
Matsudaira as our guest speaker, speaking on the
topic ‘Finer Points of Business Negotiations in
English’. Please note the new location!
Amazing English Hunt 2005 Awards Winners Announced
The winners of the “Bikkuri Eigo” search for odd
English phrases spotted in Japan, jointly sponsored
by ESUJ and eigoTown on their web sites, have been
announced for 2005. From all over Japan, over 100
examples were received, and the winners in each
category are...visit our web site!
http://www.eigotown.com/bikkuri/2005_e.shtml
Superb Result for Japanese Student Debaters
at World Championship!
At the World Universities Debating Championship
2006 for parliamentary debate, held from December
28-January 3, ESUJ University Debate Competition
former winners and Debate Committee members Mihoko
Saito and Chihiro Nakagawa, participating together
for University of Tokyo (Graduate), made the ‘break’
in the ESL category (English as a Second Language),
the first time ever for a Japanese team to achieve
this result. They went on to reach the semifinals,
a superb accomplishment. Congratulations to them
both!
Coming Events!
Feb. 21 (Thu) Bulgarian Ambassador's Lecture
Venue: Japan National Press Club (9th fl.
) 18:30-20:00
March 11 (Sat) Spring Outing: Toguri Museum
Tour（Shibuya)
“Imari Ware Tea Ceremony Utensils and Vases”
(10:30-12:00)
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For
further informaiton contact!
E-MAIL:esuj@esuj.gr.jp
Fujikage-Building
9th Floor, Motoakasaka 1-1-5
MInato-ku, Tokyo 107-0051
TEL: 03-3423-0970 FAX: 03-3423-0971
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